A widening Pentagon investigation found late Friday that an Army biodefense facility in Utah has been mistakenly sending out live deadly anthrax samples to at least two dozen private and military laboratories around the world for the last seven years.

Influenza is an RNA virus and requires a reverse transcription step to create cDNA prior to PCR being performed. The entire testing process was performed on the Firefly Dx breadboard, which is significantly faster than standard laboratory equipment and protocols, with results achieved in minutes instead of hours or days.

In testing, PositiveID ran a third-party Human Seasonal Influenza Virus and assay and detected the Type A virus, with no change to the assay’s chemistry ratio or design. Other strains currently being tested include Influenza B, H1 and H3 strains. The Firefly Dx is designed with the capability to screen for and detect multiple strains of the virus simultaneously with a single test.

“These latest testing results are significant because testing for the influenza virus using existing standard PCR protocols requires additional sample preparation steps prior to performing PCR,” stated William J. Caragol, Chairman and CEO of PositiveID. “With our Firefly Dx breadboard prototype we are able to deliver sample-to-result detection in one step in minutes. That time savings can be critical for point-of-need detection during an outbreak of any pathogen.”

— The Edgewood Area of Aberdeen Proving Ground was one of several facilities to which an Army bio-defense organization mistakenly sent samples of live anthrax, officials said Thursday, and a private commercial laboratory in Maryland was the first to report the problem to authorities.